Lady Buff softball team gets playoff

Despite being swept by St. Gregory's in a nonconference doubleheader Saturday at Lady Buff Yard, the West Texas A&M softball team had reason to celebrate.

Angelo State defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville, 2-0, in Game 2 of a Lone Star Conference doubleheader. Kingsville's loss locked WT into the No. 3 playoff seed in the South Division. Four teams in each division advance to the LSC tournament.

"It is a great feeling," WT coach Kevin Blaskowski said. "We have put a lot of work in, and it means a lot. This group made a commitment in the fall that they wanted to have a special year and get to the postseason, and they did it."

This is the first postseason appearance for the fourth-year WT program. The first three seasons were sub-.500 efforts.

"We have been waiting a lot of time to get into this," Blaskowski said. "Let's make sure we are in it as long as we can. I think we will be ready for it."

The LSC tournament is a two-site event, with WT (34-19) traveling to Abilene Christian (39-11) along with Central Oklahoma (24-13) and Midwestern State (29-15).

The other host is Southeastern Oklahoma State (46-9), and the bracket includes Angelo State (36-8), Cameron (32-18) and either Tarleton State (26-21) or A&M-Kingsville (29-18).